Consumer court: complaints against builders top the list

According to court officials,there has been a sharp rise in filing of complaints against builders between 2005 and 2009. Between 2005 and 2008,about 70 to 80 cases were filed against builders every year. This number increased to 152 cases in 2009.

Similarly,about 20 to 35 cases were registered against insurance companies every year between 2005 and 2007 and the number rose to 54 in 2008 and 64 in 2009. Of the 600 cases that were filed in the Pune district consumer court,27.7 per cent were against the builders and insurance companies collectively. “The remaining per cent comprises cases against medico-legal,against banks,education services,telecom services and so on,” said a consumer court official.

The consumer court lawyers too agree with this trend. “Litigations against builders and insurance companies have seen a sharp rise in last three years,” said advocate D G Sant,secretary,Grahak Hitvardhini,a consumer rights organisation.

With the recent ruling by Supreme Court stating that a person who has handed over his land to a developer is also a consumer,it is likely that the number may further go up,he said. Sant added that the district consumer courts should be given further execution of penalty powers to keep a tab on these cases. Sanjay Gaikwad,another consumer court lawyer said one of the reasons for increase in the number of complaints against builders could be that many of them delayed the handing over of flats because of the slowdown. Lawyers said most of the builder-related cases are about incompletion of amenities and delay in possession,while those against insurance companies are particularly about rejecting medical claims.

Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI),Pune,president Satish Magar agreed that there has been a rise in the number of consumer complaints against builders. He said many of these complaints are filed because of ego issues between the developer and the client. “CREDAI also runs its in-house consumer forum for redressing clients’ complaints where many issues are settled out-of-court,” he said. Sudhakar Velankar,founder of Grahak Hitvardhini,said builders have always been on the top of the list when it came to complaints in consumer forums. “Insurance companies have joined the league in the last three-four years and most of these complaints are regarding medical claims,” he said.